Spider-Man has had more highs and lows in the 2000s than almost any hero or villain in Marvel Comics during that time. Spider-Man has grown and changed consistently since his introduction in Amazing Fantasy #15, with Peter Parker going from a geeky high school student to a college student and finally a business owner. However, the 2000s saw more changes than ever before, including the introduction of a new mythology that changed everything about his origin, rebooting his life by eliminating his marriage to Mary Jane Watson. This started an entirely new Spider-Man for one of the most acclaimed runs of the 2010s.
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From the introduction of the spider-totem and the creation of Superior Spider-Man to the polarizing “One More Day,” here is a look at the most iconic Spider-Man moments of the 2000s.
7) Superior Spider-Man
Amazing Spider-Man #700 had the most shocking climax of any Spider-Man series. In that battle, Spider-Man was fighting a cancer-ridden Doctor Octopus. However, Doc Ock was able to body-swap with Peter Parker, and when the battle ended, it was Octopus who died, while Peter Parker’s soul was still in his body. By the end, Doctor Octopus was the new Superior Spider-Man, now existing in Peter Parker’s body.
This ended the Amazing Spider-Man series, and Marvel relaunched a new Superior Spider-Man series with Doc Ock’s Spider-Man as the new lead. Dan Slott and Humberto Ramos’s series had Superior Spider-Man as more violent, arrogant, and methodical than the original ever was, which caused a rift between Spider-Man and his allies. The twist was that part of Peter Parker still lived in him and was steering Doc Ock into becoming a better hero. The series ran for 33 issues from 2013 to 2014.
6) Peter Parker Returns During “Goblin Nation”
While Superior Spider-Man was a fantastic storyline that helped boost the character’s title for almost three years, it ended with a huge moment. That happened during “Goblin Nation,” which ran from Superior Spider-Man #27-30. The series saw Doctor Octopus slowly acting like more of a hero, and when he realized he couldn’t protect New York City from the Green Goblin (a returning Norman Osborn), he finally understood Peter Parker was still in his body.
“Goblin Nation” was a thrill-ride with Norman Osborn proving how evil he could still be as Green Goblin, but the payoff here is when Doc Ock tries to purge Peter from the equation, and it ends up bringing back Peter Parker as Spider-Man, leading to the end of the Superior Spider-Man title and setting up Peter for his redemption as he attempted to win back his old friends and allies.
5) Aunt May Gets Shot by an Assassin
The Marvel “Civil War” spent a long time having superheroes fighting each other instead of protecting the world from evil threats. The entire event forced readers to take sides and decide if they wanted the more government-sponsored authoritarian regime of Iron Man or the more rebellious stand of Captain America. This pulled in everyone, including Spider-Man, who took Iron Man’s side.
However, when Iron Man forced Spider-Man to unmask for the world, it put Peter Parker’s entire family in danger. This included Aunt May, and when Kingpin hired someone to target Peter and his family, the assassin shot Aunt May. This led to one of Spider-Man’s most haunting moments, but it also resulted in the “Back in Black” storyline, where Spider-Man set out to brutalize everyone responsible, finishing up by beating Kingpin in a prison fight. This was Spider-Man at his deadliest, and it was a dark, yet brilliant turn.
4) Peter Parker Makes a Deal with Mephisto
Just because the majority of readers hate something doesn’t make it any less iconic of a moment. That happened when Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson learned that Aunt May likely wasn’t going to survive the gunshot from Kingpin’s assassin. That led Mephisto to show up and offer the couple a deal. While every deal with Mephisto always goes wrong, this one alienated an entire portion of Spider-Man’s fan base.
Peter and Mary Jane agreed to end their marriage and erase it from existence in exchange for Aunt May living. While that moment was extremely polarizing, it was also one of the most important of the 2000s because Marvel then rebooted Spider-Man’s stories in “Brand New Day.” The stories that followed were quite good, although not many fans like the fact that Peter and Mary Jane are still not back together.
3) Morlun Tears Out Spider-Man’s Eye
J. Michael Straczynski introduced Morlun and Ezekiel Sims in the “Coming Home” storyline, and Morlun became one of Spider-Man’s deadliest enemies. He and his family of the Inheritors sought out animal-totem beings from different worlds to feed on to keep themselves young and powerful. When he showed up in Spider-Man’s world, Ezekiel Sims warned Peter of Morlun’s powers, but that was really shown in Spider-Man’s second fight with Morlun.
The first fight in “Coming Home” ended with Spider-Man injecting himself with radiation, which poisoned Morlun when he started feeding on Peter. The second fight in “The Other” didn’t go as well. In that fight, Morlun decimated Spider-Man, and it led to the shocking moment where he ripped out Peter’s eye and ate it. Spider-Man died shortly after this fight.
2) Spider-Man Becomes The Other
“The Other: Evolve or Die” is a 12-part crossover series that ran through three titles from 2005 to 2006. These include Amazing Spider-Man, Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, and Marvel Knights Spider-Man, and it included a large team of writers and artists telling the crossover tale. Peter Parker is dying after he was beaten by Morlun. He ended up in the hospital, and when Morlun arrived to finish the job, Peter ended up dying.
However, what happened next was unexpected and brought the realm of body horror into the Spider-Man titles. Thanks to the spider-totem mythology, Peter ended up shedding his skin in a cocoon, and Spider-Man was reborn with new powers, including night vision, stingers, and enhanced senses. This paid off the new totem mythology J. Michael Straczynski introduced, and it deepened the entire “Spider-Verse” story arc.
1) Spider-Man Unmasks During “Civil War”
The most iconic moment of the 2000s for Spider-Man came during the “Civil War” storyline, which caused several other big moments we already looked at earlier. Spider-Man chose to side with Iron Man in the war, if for no other reason than because he thought it was only right to be on the side of the actual government. However, Iron Man proved most of the time that he only cared about himself, and he convinced Spider-Man to unmask on the news to help promote his side of the war.
Iron Man never once considered how this would put Peter’s loved ones in danger, and this directly caused Aunt May’s assassination attempt by a Kingpin assassin. The “Back in Black” storyline saw Spider-Man switching sides, which resulted in Iron Man’s allies almost killing him. Things finally ended for good with “Brand New Day,” but unmasking and revealing to the world who he really was ended up being Spider-Man’s most iconic moment since 2000.
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